The new branch will be officially opening from Friday, February 25 at 10:30am.
A new branch of Metro Bank is set to open in the city centre. The grand opening will see the ribbon cut by the Lord Mayor and a 13-year-old super fan.
Teen Oliver Benghiat is one of the few people to have visited every Metro Bank store in the UK.
As a huge thank you from Metro for all his support, Oliver will cut the official ribbon to commemorate the Leicester store opening. He will be joined by Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Deepak Bajaj.
Setting a challenge
At the age of 10, Oliver, from Epsom in Surrey, set himself the challenge to visit every Metro bank. This was after his local Metro Bank delivered its Money Zone programme at his school. It inspired him to visit every UK branch by the time he was 13.
"As more stores opened up the challenge got harder," Oliver explains, "but it was exciting to plan the next trip and see where it took us.
"The original aim was to complete it before my 12th birthday but then Covid got in the way. The new target was to do it before I turned 13 in November 2021. By August, I only had one store left to visit, and my whole family and I were going to visit it in Liverpool.
"Unfortunately, I got Covid so we couldn't go. I was so sad as we'd had the trip planned for so long.
"Luckily, we booked a trip up to Liverpool in October half term, so I managed to tick off the last Metro Bank before my 13th Birthday in November."
The grand opening
The Leicester branch will be the 79th Metro Bank store, creating 15 new jobs for the area. The new store will be located at 1 Haymarket, just by the Clocktower. It will be open seven days a week for local residents and businesses.
Metro Bank Grand Openings are lively events, literally attended by hundreds of people. Taking place across two days, a DJ will be playing from 8:30am each morning, keeping the party rocking through to 6pm.
Throughout Friday, attendees can enjoy a complimentary coffee from a local Barista coffee van.
On Saturday, the party continues with Dhol Drummers and free face-painting for kids from 10am – 4pm.
On both days, keep an eye out for stilt walkers and the company mascot Metro Man - he loves a selfie, so don't be afraid to ask.
The new branch
The new store houses 6,000 safe deposit boxes and combines face-to-face banking with state-of-the-art technology. This will provide a convenient banking experience for residents and businesses.
Customers will be able to visit the store seven days a week, with no appointment needed. It will be possible to open a personal or business account on-the-spot, leaving with debit card in hand, with internet and mobile banking already set up.
“We are proud to be opening Metro Bank's second store in the East Midlands” commented new branch manager, Stuart Williams.
“We are looking forward to serving our local communities. All our colleagues have been recruited from Leicester so we already have a fantastic knowledge of the area – in fact, we are all so local nearly every one of us can walk to work.”
Metro Bank is famously very dog friendly. Water bowls, treats and branded bandanas are all available in store for four-legged VIP visitors.
The Leicester Metro Bank store is located at 1 Haymarket, Leicester, LE1 3GD.
Written by Tom Young.
Tom is a feature writer for Niche Magazine and the Event Co-Ordinator for Cross Productions. He has a degree in Creative Writing and over a decade of experience working in comedy and theatre as the founder of improv group The Same Faces. He writes about what's on, interesting people, and local events.
